My UM
My UM
Search

External Financial Governance: Solidarity and Externalisation of Migration Control through EU Funding

NWO Hestia/Faculty of Law Workshop
-

This two-day interdisciplinary workshop incorporating insights from political science, law, public policy, international relations, and political geography, explores the theoretical and normative underpinnings of governing migration through funding; provides unique empirical insights into the administration modes of EU funding; and assesses the adequacy of oversight and accountability mechanisms, as well as the impact of these practices on the protection of refugee, fundamental rights, and the rule of law.

The hybrid workshop is co-convened by Dr. Lilian Tsourdi (Assistant Professor/NWO Hestia Principal Investigator) and Nasrat Sayed (Researcher/NWO Hestia Laureate) in UM Campus Brussels in the framework of their NWO Hestia grant. You can participate online or physically in Brussels.

Programme on 2 February

12.00h Welcome
12.30h Conference Opening
12.40h

External Financial Governance in Migration

  • Chair: Lilian Tsourdi (University of Maastricht)
  • Solidarity and Externalisation of Migration Control through EU Funding: A Research Agenda by Lilian Tsourdi (University of Maastricht) 

  • More than just Money: Assessing Change in EU funds for Migration since 2000 by 

    Federica Zardo (Danube University Krems)

  • Follow the Money IV: The use of AMIF and ISF-BV funds outside the EU - by UNHCR and ECRE. Estela Casajuana was commissioned to complete the report. 
14.00h Coffee Break
14.30h

Critical Perspectives on the EU’s Trust Fund for Africa

  • Chair: Federica Zardo, Danube University Krems

  • Capitalizing on A Crisis: The European Union Trust Fund for Africa by Darshan Vigneswaran (University of Amsterdam); Nora Söderberg (European University Institute); Natalie Welfens (Hertie School) and Saskia Bonjour (University of Amsterdam)

  • Memoranda of Understanding and the Governance of Migration in the EUTF by 

    Joseph Trawicki Anderson (University of Gothenburg)

  • Seeking Legitimacy through Knowledge Production: The Politics of Monitoring and Evaluation of the EU Trust Fund for Africa by 

    Natalie Welfens (Hertie School) & Saskia Bonjour (University of Amsterdam)

  • Governing Migration through Development: An Analysis of Soft EU Border Externalization Practices in Libya by 

    Agnese Pacciardi (Lund University, Sweden) 
16.00h Coffee Break
16.30h

Steering Policy Implementation through EU funding

  • Chair: Alberto-Horst Neidhardt (European Policy Centre)  
  • The Conditionality-Compensation Nexus in Third-Country Cooperation on Migration with the EU by Elaine Lebon-McGregor (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University); Marie Godin, (University of Oxford); Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert (Peace Research Institute Oslo) & Niels Ike (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University)
  • Terrain of contestation: Complicating the role of aid in border diplomacy between Europe and Morocco by Lorena Gazzotti (Lucy Cavendish College and CRASSH, University of Cambridge)
  • Financing Externalization: The Role that EU Funds Play in Shaping the Turkish Asylum and Migration Policies by Orçun Ulusoy (VU Amsterdam) & Meltem Ineli Ciger, (Suleyman Demirel University, Turkey)
18.00h End of day 1

 

Programme on 3 February

09.30h

Migration Management and Solidarity through EU Funding: Focus on Afghanistan  

  • Chair: Lilian Tsourdi (University of Maastricht)
  • Presentation of NWO Hestia research findings by Nasrat Sayed (University of Maastricht)  
  • Comments by Hameed Hakimi (Chatham House, London)   
10.30h Coffee Break
11.00h

Transparency and Accountability in External Migration Funding

  • Chair: Mariolina Eliantonio (University of Maastricht)
  • Financial Governance and Irresponsibilisation in EU Migration Control by Valentina Azarova (Manchester International Law Centre, University of Manchester) and de:border | migration justice collective and Emergent Justice Collective (United Kingdom)
  • Funding of the External Dimension of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum by Iris Goldner Lang (University of Zagreb)
  • Migration Management Clientelism in External Action Spending: Assessing Accountability in the Shared Implementation of Funds by Michele Gigli (European University Institute)
  • Challenging the EU's Financial Support to the Libyan Coast Guard: any Room for the Principle of Good Administration? by Andreina De Leo (University of Maastricht)
12.30h Lunch
13.30h

Funding, Financialisation and Solidarity in Migration

  • Chair: Federica Zardo (Danube University Krems)
  • Leveraging the Governance of Migration through Financing: The Unspoken by Jean-Pierre Cassarino (University of Tuscia & College of Europe)
  • ‘Complementary’ Pathways and Refugee Finance in the EU: From Fleeing Persecution to the Refugee Entrepreneur by Daria Davitti (Lund University) & Zvezda Vankova (Lund University)
  • Migration, Development and the Expansion of Private Capital to Tunisia by Alexander Jung (University of Gothenburg)
14.50h

Closing 
by Lilian Tsourdi & Nasrat Sayed (University of Maastricht)
15.00h End of conference

 

Also read

  • Hugo and the Law

    On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the publication of the first volume of Actes et Paroles, the collection of Victor Hugo’s political speeches, an international event will take place at Maastricht University on 7-8 May 2025. The event is dedicated to the author’s conceptualization of...

    exhibition and workshop
    7 May
    8 May

  • Data Protection Officer (DPO) Certification

    This specialised hands-on training enables you to acquire the must-know knowledge and the do’s and don’ts to efficiently perform the role and tasks of Data Protection Officer (DPO) under the GDPR.

    workshop
    30 Jun
    4 Jul